today is considered another must within hint state for romney. rick santorum is in second. a total of 54 delegates are at stake today in illinois. >>> winter is officially over, not that we ever really felt it in the first place. today mark the first day of spring and the start of the annual national cherry blossom festival. >> this year's festival is a special one. it has been 100 years since japan gave the cherry blossoms to d.c. as i gift. melanie alnwick is live this morning at the tidal basin. this was a quick turnaround for your crew. i thought i just saw you leaving the station. >> it doesn't take long to get mere when there isn't a lot of traffic. when the festival gets going, it will take quite some time to get down here. we are talk about a peak bloom that is actually here a lot earlier hand in the past. it is the warmer spring weather that brought it. you really can see all the trees just lit up. and peak bloom, because of that warmer spring weather, they are saying that this is expected to be over the next three days. so today, stay with us, wednesday, thursday,